Welcome to Flightinfo.com

  • Register now and join the discussion
  • Friendliest aviation Ccmmunity on the web
  • Modern site for PC's, Phones, Tablets - no 3rd party apps required
  • Ask questions, help others, promote aviation
  • Share the passion for aviation
  • Invite everyone to Flightinfo.com and let's have fun

Did anyone here fly checks in Lears in the early 80?

Welcome to Flightinfo.com

  • Register now and join the discussion
  • Modern secure site, no 3rd party apps required
  • Invite your friends
  • Share the passion of aviation
  • Friendliest aviation community on the web

AVRO_FO

Sidewalk Captain
Joined
Jan 13, 2005
Posts
35
I read an article about AirNet a few years back and it has made me wonder when banks started having checks flown around in Lears. You can PM me if you have any details of:

Routes
Training
Pay
How long did you do it
Did you upgrade to captain
War stories from flying around in the middle of the night in a Lear.


Thanks in advance.
 
Well, not from the early 80's...however, i did as recent ago as 2006.

Routes...well, all over the US, into and out of major banking cities and FED Reserve cities.
Training...very good, but hated the fact that your job was on the line every time you took a checkride. They didn't always like to help you out if you were not up to speed on some things.
Pay...eh, it was decent the first year, much better than any regional at least, but then quickly dropped below any regional pay rates. You could at least live off the pay though which was nice.
How long...5 and a half years...but only the last 2.5 in the lear.
Upgrade...yep.
War stories...??? of course i do, we all do.

Don't know if that helps, but i tried.
 
BankAir 96 to 99 lear 25's and 35's. What starchkr said about the rest cept I upgraded in 7 or so months and was hired into the Lear which was nice in those days....
 
77-85 in the cancelled check game

Lear 23's actually started being used by Midwest out of Lorain in the early 70's. This is the company that eventually became Airborne Express.

My earliest dealings with Lear's was a company named Rapidair that had a 23 running DEN MDW meeting about 10 other airplanes at the MDW hub about 1978. That company fell apart due to poor management about 78-79.

Jet Courier out of LUK picked up the Lear Run to DEN in a 23 serial number 98. Jet Courier grew to about 10 lears by 1985. Several other companies were flying Lears at the time, in the private sector it was Jet Courier( which was later named Wright Express ), Air Continental out of the Cleveland area, Vic Devarian out of Burbank, and PDQ was using a FLL operator to run a few 20 series Lears. There was an operator out of the Dallas area and if my memory serves me correctly the company was Stern Air.

The FED work was being run by Corporate Air out of CT, and believe it or not Epps air out of Atlanta. If I left anybody out forgive me and add them, these are the ones I ran into pretty much on a nightly basis.

There were some interesting folks along the way.

There was a pilot from Corporate Air named John that was flying on some sort of medical exemption, and I believe he had his condition since birth, he had problems walking, but could fly a Lear at the Warp factor just like the rest of us. Corporate Air also had an ex-south vietnam fellow that came over after the fall and he actually quit flying and opened up a restaraunt in Ellington CT after he recieved his court awarded payment after having survived a inflight breakup of an Aero Commander somewhere over the Carolina's several years earlier.

There was Smiley (Slimey Sh:thook) from Jet Courier that pulled up in front of a Cessna 310 that parked in "his" spot at the MDW hub and pushed the power up untill it was at least 100 feet down the ramp. He then sat in the Lear for an hour while the 310 pilot fumed.

There was the pilot that flew for Devarian out of SFO that took about a year to turn into the fairer sex.

Ther was the MSP based crew for Jet Courier that argued for weeks about who's job it was to check the engine oil, and with everbody being aware of the arguement they ran the left out of oil making the 23 come to an early grave.

The flying was a little wilder on the private side with much tighter deadlines and much larger pressure being applied to make the times.
The FED flying was in need of the Lears speed but the pressure was much less.

The notable operations were Jet Courier and Air Continental for the true 23 and 25, 350 to the Marker RVR 1800 folks. The real slow folks was the outfit out of FLL that PDQ hired, they could not make a deadline with a 100 knot tailwind much less overcome the challenges of the day.

Airnet eventially was formed by a merger of Jet Courier, Air Continental, Dixie Air and PDQ. Jeff the Chief Pilot from Air Continental stayed at Airnet probably the longest.

I've got more stories than you have time to read.

Several folks died along the way, and each of them I remember with a smile.:)
 
Last edited:
Deverian Airways

QUOTE

There was the pilot that flew for Devarian out of SFO that took about a year to turn into the fairer sex.

ENDQUOTE

Now I apreciate your stories cuz I'm an old Learjet check guy with thousands of hours and nearly as many sleepless nights in the game but regards the quote above, I'm gonna publically call BULL ******************** on this ...

Happens I met Vic Deverian in 1984, about 2 years after Deverian Airways, later Bancjet Systems got it really going with the California Bankers' Clearing House and the very beginning of Burlington AirExpress. Actually, I became the Chief Pilot in 1985 and later the Director of Operations and closed the place when Vic sold a license to operate his business to Barry Lutin at Corporate Air in, say, circa, 1987. It took a couple of years to sell the Falcon 20 fleet overseas ... in fact I delivered a number of them to Europe and then I've gone on to have a great career.

No mate, you don't get to wrongfully call anyone at Deverian Airways a transvestite ... you do not get to, do not do it and you'll answer for it in every way. I'll make sure of that.

The guys at Deverian were simply the finest aviators I've ever had the opportunity to work with, my present company may be better but these are different times. I knew everyone at Deverian ... and I knew them all from Wedertz, Sparks, Foster, Hunt and all the lot to the end. You're wrong ... and you should watch how you coach yourself. This is a very, very small industry.

Now regards flying Learjets ... HELL YES those were GREAT days and it was a full on rodeo. As I recently told another guy, there were only three rules, (1) don't be late; (2) don't hurt the airplane; and (3) don't forget rule #1. I clearly recall leaving the west coast late with a big tailwind and holding the airplane up at FL410 to the last possible moment then going to flight idle, spoilers, ignition on and fuel computers off hoping beyond hope you could make Slate Run at FL180/250KIAS. Sometimes it took a forward slip or even pushing the airplane sideways to make the restriction. I can't really talk about some of our other tricks to "get the job done".

On a side, Vic Deverian passed away last November, just before Thanksgiving, following a long battle with cancer. I knew him to the end and he was one hell of a business man and he taught me a lot about life, business and the world.

As such ... your not yet spoken appology is accepted.

TransMach
 
executive jet 91 to 94....upgraded after 1 year in LR35....routes all over the country for the federal reserve...training sucked!...every leg was a war story...check flying is about to be terminated!
 
No

QUOTE

There was the pilot that flew for Devarian out of SFO that took about a year to turn into the fairer sex.

ENDQUOTE

Now I apreciate your stories cuz I'm an old Learjet check guy with thousands of hours and nearly as many sleepless nights in the game but regards the quote above, I'm gonna publically call BULL ******************** on this ...
TransMach


I certainly will not apologize for a factual statement, I will however clarify that this individual is not a transvestite. He/she or it (I never know what to call these folks) got the big clip about 10 years ago and is currently a 767 Captain for a Major. To be clear this person started this trend years after leaving Devarian.

Sounds like you got into the game about the time I left for 121.

The most interesting thing I have noticed after years of recruiting and training folks, is that you can take an old lear/check guy and turn his time critical mentality formed from playing that game into being one of the smoothest, fuel saving, low maintenance 121 pax drivers. The kind of Captain that makes the company money.

I do offer however an apology if you in any way take what I said to demean pilots from your former company. We all played the same game and I am sure have very similar experiences. I meant only to throw out a few stories of the colorful personalities that I met along the way.:)

No mate, you don't get to wrongfully call anyone at Deverian Airways a transvestite ... you do not get to, do not do it and you'll answer for it in every way. I'll make sure of that.
TransMach[/QUOTE]

Come on... Let's be real

You're wrong ... and you should watch how you coach yourself. This is a very, very small industry.
TransMach[/QUOTE]


Once again let's get real


.
TransMach[/QUOTE]
 
... you do not get to, do not do it and you'll answer for it in every way. I'll make sure of that.

You're wrong ... and you should watch how you coach yourself. This is a very, very small industry.

Sounds like someone needs a sippy cup and a nap.
 
QUOTE

I do offer however an apology if you in any way take what I said to demean pilots from your former company. We all played the same game and I am sure have very similar experiences. I meant only to throw out a few stories of the colorful personalities that I met along the way.:)

ENDQUOTE

Acepted.

TransMach
 

Latest resources

Back
Top